RESTORATION plans for Queen's Park's tennis courts have NOT been given the elbow, council officials insist.

But they admit that they haven't been able to find the money yet to complete the work in time for the grand re-opening of the park in June.

In a letter to the Advertiser, Chris Flintoff, service manager for parks and countryside, Derek Mack, parks and cemeteries manager, and park warden Cameron Baines say fears expressed by the Restoration Group last week about the future of the courts were misleading and inaccurate.

The Restoration Group - soon to become the Friends of Queen's Park - told the Advertiser last week that they were angry to learn there was no money to put the courts back to playing condition in time for the June opening ceremony.

When the roadway was first laid, the Advertiser was assured by the council that the courts were only temporarily out of use and that the road surface would become part of the reinstated courts when the park re-opened.

At present the courts are covered in builders' materials and equipment and a road has been laid through the middle of them so that heavy vehicles can reach other parts of the park where major restoration is taking place.

The council letter stresses that the road was never intended as a temporary access for works vehicles but as a permanent load-bearing route into the park for future events like the annual charities fete.

"It is wrong to suggest the upgrading the courts has been given the elbow. Far from it. We accept that we haven't got the money confirmed yet, but we know that elected members of Heywood and senior officers of the council have been working hard for some time to find the money for this in advance of the opening of the park in June. The Friends are aware of this possibility."